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ILLINOIS  HISTORICAL  SURVEY  LIBRARY 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


Seventy-five  Years  of         t 

Congregationalism  in     ■$■','<■ 
Champaign  and  Urhana, 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF  THE' 
YMSiTY  OF  ItUKOSS 


1853-1928 


ITS,? 

Seventy-five  Years  of 

Congregationalism  in 

Champaign  and  Urbana 

Bv  Laurence  M.  Larson 

t  THE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

MONG  those  who  Preached||j^ffiei4yiih£^f4%j^nois 

in  the  earlier  fifties  was  a  ^ongregauoua.i  missionary," 
W.  W.  Blanchard,  who  was  at  work  in  Urbana  at  least 
as  early  as  June,  1853.  Mr.  Blanchard  was  evidently  of 
New  England  origin  and  apparently  came  west  by  the 
Oberlin  route.  It  seems  probable  that  he  came  to  Urbana  as  the  agent 
of  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  for  his  professed  mission  was  to 
find  the  settlers  who  might  be  of  his  own  household  of  faith  and  to 
gather  them  together  into  a  Congregational  church. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  Mr.  Blanchard  found  the  Urbana  settle- 
ment a  rather  barren  field.  The  little  village  on  the  edge  of  the  Big 
Woods  is  described  as  a  collection  of.  about  seventy-five  buildings  of 
all  kinds :  shops,  homes,  stores,  and  other  business  houses,  grouped 
around  the  court  house  site.  The  buildings  were  all  quite  small,  a 
four  room  house  being  regarded  as  a  large  structure.  At  most  the 
number  of  families  in  Urbana  in  1853  can  scarcely  have  exceeded  fifty. 

Mr.  Blanchard  found  the  two  great  churches  of  the  frontier,  the 
Methodist  and  the  Baptist,  already  firmly  established  at  the  county 
seat.  Moreover,  he  could  note  signs  of  active  life  among  the  men 
and  women  of  the  Presbyterian  fold,  though  they  had  as  yet  no  well- 
knit  organization.  Furthermore,  he  found  very  few  settlers  in  Urbana 
who  had  come  from  New  England,  or  could  claim  New  England  an- 
cestry. There  seemed  to  be  no  future  for  Congregationalism  in  the 
county  of  Champaign. 

But  Mr.  Blanchard  finally  found  a  kindred  spirit  in  John  F.  Rankin, 
who  had  come  to  Illinois  from  Ripley,  Ohio.  There  is  a  tradition  that 
Eliza,  whose  dramatic  crossing  of  the  Ohio  River  is  told  by  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe,  actually  did  escape  in  this  way,  and  that  she  was 
sheltered  in  the  Rankin  homestead.  The  abolitionist  from  the  Ohio 
valley  must  have  taken  a  certain  interest  in  the  preacher  from  Lane 
Seminary  where  Professor  Stowe  the  husband  of  the  novelist,  once 
taught  religion.  For  there  is  a  further  tradition  that  the  church  which 
Mr.  Blanchard  finally  succeeded  in  organizing  was  less  a  Congre- 
gational church  than  a  society  pledged  to  oppose  the  extension  of 
slavery. 


? 


58326 


In    the    earlier    fifties    there    was    almost    no    interest    in    free-soil 

principles  in  eastern  Illinois.  For  that  matter,  during  the  year  1853  a 
decided  political  calm  ruled  throughout  the  nation.  In  a  few  months 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  to  kindle  the  fires  of  controversy  once  more 
by  his  advocacy  of  "squatter  sovereignty;"  but  that  was  in  the  future. 

Air.  Blanchard's  work  bore  fruit  on  Sunday,  November  I,  1853. 
when  two  men  and  five  women  assembled  with  him  to  form  an  or- 
ganization which  made  human  freedom  a  part  of  its  creed.  The  meet- 
ing was  held  at  the  home  of  A^oses  P.  Snelling,  which  Mr.  F.  L.  Graff 
tells  us  was  located  south  of  the  old  court  house  site  and  not  very  far 
away.  The  charter  members  of  the  new  church  were  John  F.  Rankin 
and  Mary  Rankin,  Moses  P.  Snelling  and  Caroline  Snelling,  Tamar 
Campbell,  Jane  Higgins,  and  Alsethea  Snyder.  There  is  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  Air.  Rankin  was  the  leader  in  the  little  group.  Mr.  Snelling 
was  probably  too  young  to  lead  a  movement  of  this  sort;  his  wife, 
Caroline  Snelling,  was  still  living  in  January,  1915,  when  the  church 
sent  her  a  letter  of  greeting.  It  was  then  sixty-one  years  since  she 
had  signed  the  covenant  of   1853. 

A  few  days  after  the  event  of  November  1,  there  came  to  Urbana 
a  man  whose  influence  in  the  new  association  was  to  become  quite 
decisive  and  also  somewhat  disturbing.  Mr.  A.  O.  Howell  arrived  in 
the  village  on  November  6.  Later  in  the  year  he  returned  to  Ohio  to 
bring  his  family  and  in  February,  1854,  the  Howells  became  permanent 
residents  of   Illinois. 

Mr.  Howell  soon  found  a  spiritual  kinsman  in  Marcus  A.  Barnes, 
who  had  come  with  his  family  from  Plattsburg,  New  York,  a  little 
earlier  in  the  winter.  The  two  families  promptly  joined  the  new 
church.  On  April  9  Mr.  Howell  began  his  career  as  an  active  religious 
worker  by  organizing  a  Sunday  school,  the  earliest  Sunday  school  in 
Urbana.  It  was  a  union  school  and  was  well  attended.  For  four  years 
Mr.  Howell  superintended  the  undertaking,  while  Mr.  Barnes  acted 
as  secretary.  At  the  end  of  this  period  Mr.  Barnes  took  over  the 
duties  of  superintendent,  which  office  he  held  for  four  years,  or  until 
he  was  called  to  the  battlefront,  where  he  yielded  his  life. 

In  the  meantime  the  young  church  had  passed  through  a  crisis,  the 
outcome  of  which  determined  its  character  and  its  policy  for  more 
than  thirty  years.  When  Mr.  Howell  and  Mr.  Barnes  had  come  into 
the  fellowship  they  found  that  their  beliefs  were  largely  shared  by 
Mr.  Rankin:  "we  were  all  most  thorough  abolitionists,  prohibitionists, 
and  anti-Masons."  And  to  these  "thorough  principles"  the  church 
was  now  to  be  committed. 

Under  the  guidance  of  these  men  the  church  proceeded  to  con- 
sider a  revision  of  its  platform.  It  is  quite  clear  that  some  of  the 
members  were  not  ready  to  accept  the  radical  doctrines  of  Howell  and 

2 


his  friends ;  but  in  the  end  they  were  all  won  over.  "After  very  many 
days  and  weeks  of  most  unusual  prayer  and  consecration,"  writes  Mr. 
Howell,  "we  unanimously  revised  and  unanimously  adopted  this  our 
present  ....  articles  of  faith,  standing  rules,  and  covenant."  This  was 
November  n,  1854. 

In  their  revised  form  the  creed,  rules,  and  covenant  of  the  church 
still  contained  much  that  was  common  to  all  Congregational  bodies  of 
the  time ;  but  they  were  also  made  the  expression  of  what  the  radical 
following  called  the  "thorough  principles."  Of  such  the  leaders  recog- 
nized five. 

1.  The  church  was  committed  unequivocally  to  the  cause  of  aboli- 
tion. "We  ....  cannot  receive  to  our  communion  any  individual  who 
by  example  or  precept,  perpetuates  or  sustains  the  system  of  American 
slavery." 

2.  The  organization  was  further  committed  to  the  cause  of  com- 
plete prohibition  of  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  liquor.  "This  church 
.  .  .  .  cannot  receive  into  its  communion  any  one  who  manufactures, 
buys,  sells,  or  uses,  as  a  beverage,  intoxicating  drinks,  whether  they  be 
distilled  or  fermented  liquors."  Membership  was  also  refused  to  all 
who  derived  profit  from  this  business  in  the  form  of  rent,  or  who  sold 
"corn  or  other  grain  to  a  distiller  or  his  known  agent  (and  brethren 
are  expected  to  make  suitable  inquiry  respecting  that  matter)." 

3.  Again,  the  church  seems  to  have  been  committed  to  the  policy 
of  opposition  to  secret  societies  of  every  type.  Apparently  this  did  not 
take  the  form  of  a  standing  rule ;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  for 
many  years  no  member  of  a  secret  society  was  regarded  as  eligible  to 
church  membership. 

4.  The  church  was  declared  to  be  a  benevolent  society  both  in  a 
general  and  in  a  more  special  sense.  The  membership  pledged  itself  to 
"supply  the  necessities  of  the  poor  and  destitute"  within  its  fold,  and 
even  agreed  to  allow,  in  extreme  cases,  the  imposition  of  a  property 
tax  to  be  used  to  relieve  distress. 

5.  The  church  was  to  be  a  communion  of  saints.  On  admission  to 
the  fellowship  every  candidate  pledged  himself  "to  walk  in  all  the 
statutes  and  ordinances  of  the  Lord,  to  assemble  ....  with  His  people 
for  His  worship,  to  keep  holy  the  Sabbath  day"  and  to  practice  all  the 
virtues  that  are  associated  with  the  Christian  name. 

In  order  that  these  principles  should  not  be  set  aside  by  less 
energetic  Congregationalists  in  the  future,  the  standing  rules  provided 
that  no  change  might  "be  made  in  the  polity  but  by  a  vote  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  entire  membership." 

A  strong  position  against  human  slavery  was  not  popular  in  1854, 
and  the  new  organization  was  occasionally  known  as  "the  nigger 
church."    But  the  doctrine  of  human  freedom  was  held  quite  generally 


in  Congregational  circles,  and  within  a  decade  it  had  gone  forward  to 
victory. 

Tn  its  declaration  against  the  liquor  traffic  the  church  was  in  line 
with  the  hest  thought  of  the  time.  A  powerful  anti-liquor  movement 
was  sweeping  across  Illinois  in  the  fifties  and  it  looked  as  if  the  saloon 
was  doomed.  In  1858  a  no-license  proposition  won  in  Urbana  by  a 
good  vote.  In  West  Urbana,  which  the  editor  of  the  Gazette  described 
as  "the  worst  rum-hole  in  the  county,"  the  movement  was  less  suc- 
cessful. But  in  such  local  victories  as  were  achieved,  the  Congre- 
gational church  had  a  share ;  and  in  the  war  upon  the  licensed  saloon 
it  has  the  distinction  of  never  having  laid  down  its  arms. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  leaders  of  this  church  in  early 
days  regarded  Masonry  with  unfeigned  horror.  However,  the  feeling 
may  not  have  been  general ;  for  after  a  time  efforts  were  made  to 
change  the  policy  on  this  point.  These  were  without  success  till  1876, 
when,  on  the  motion  of  the  Reverend  Mr.  Pierce,  it  was  resolved, 
"that  this  church  is  not  an  anti-secret  society  but  a  Church  of  Christ" 
which  knows  no  test  of  membership  but  Christian  character. 

It  must  not  be  thought  that  the  covenant  of  church  was  of  the  sort 
that  is  honored  chiefly  in  the  breach ;  on  the  contrary,  it  was  enforced 
in  letter  and  spirit.  In  the  words  of  Mr.  Howell,  "we  were  abolition- 
ists and  disfellowshipped  all  who  were  not  ....  We  disfellowshipped 
all  known  Masons  with  their  horrid  and  profane  oaths  and  barbarous 
penalties."  Care  was  taken  that  no  candidate  whose  character  or  opin- 
ions were  in  any  way  doubtful  was  admitted  to  membership.  In  1869 
the  church  resolved  that  all  who  requested  admission  on  profession  of 
faith  should  be  examined  one  week  before  the  quarterly  meeting  by 
the  pastor  and  a  committee  chosen  for  that  purpose.  The  practice  of 
examination  seems  to  have  been  kept  up  for  a  number  of  years ;  traces 
of  it  are  found  as  late  as  1890. 

On  rare  occasions  the  church  has  found  it  necessary  to  cancel  the 
membership  of  persons  who  have  ignored  the  promises  made  in  the 
covenant.  On  January  6,  1869,  two  men  were  "excommunicated,"  one 
for  gross  immorality  and  another  for  gambling  and  other  evil  practices. 
On  a  later  occasion  (November  12,  1895)  it  became  necessary  to  act 
ence  more  in  this  way ;  but  the  term  "excommunication"  was  no  longer 
in  the  vocabulary  of  Congregationalism,  and  the  church  simply  re- 
solved to  "withdraw  the  hand  of  fellowship"  and  to  drop  the  name  of 
the  accused  from  the  roll. 

II 

Late  in  July,  1855,. the  first  passenger  train  on  the  Illinois 'Central 
Railway  steamed  into  the  new  Urbana  station  which,  because  of  the 
perversity  of  circumstance,  had  been  located,  not  at  the  old  village,  but 

4 


two  miles  farther  west  on  the  edge  of  a  miry  swamp  where  the  busi- 
ness district  of  Champaign  has  since  grown  up.  This  purely  secular 
enterprise  profoundly  affected  the  growth  and  the  history  of  the  new 
church.  Settlers  were  now  coming  to  the  county  by  hundreds ;  many 
of  these  were  of  New  England  stock  and  helped  to  recruit  the  strength 
of  Congregationalism  in  its  new  field. 

The  coming  of  the  railway  also  led  to  an  important  exodus  from 
the  old  village  to  the  neighborhood  of  "the  Depot,"  as  the  new  site 
was  called  in  Urbana.  Among  those  who  moved  was  the  greater  part 
of  the  Congregational  membership.  This  fact  made  it  necessary  to 
find  a  new  place  of  worship  (thus  far  the  meetings  had  generally  been 
held  in  the  court  house).  This  was  found  in  the  new  village,  and  the 
church  ceased  to  be  identified  with  Urbana. 

Exactly  when  the  sanctuary  was  moved  to  "the  Depot"  cannot  be 
known ;  but  it  can  scarcely  have  been  later  than  the  spring  of  1855. 
On  March  4  of  that  year,  the  union  Sunday  school,  which  had  also 
had  a  home  in  the  court  house,  was  moved  to  West  Urbana,  where  it 
found  temporary  quarters  in  an  unfinished  house  belonging  to  Mr. 
Snelling,  who  had  located  on  what  has  since  come  to  be  University 
Avenue*  The  school  now  shed  its  former  title  and  character  and 
became  the  Sunday  school  of  the  First  Congregational  Church. 

Meanwhile  the  church  was  building  a  new  house  of  worship,  the 
historic  Goose  Pond  church.  Not  far  from  the  railway  station  there 
was,  in  prairie  days,  a  pond  where  geese  and  other  water  fowl  found 
such  enjoyment  as  a  pool  provides.  The  railway  company  proceeded 
to  drain  and  fill  in  this  pond ;  and  when  the  Congregational  brethren 
came  looking  about  for  a  building  site,  the  company  donated  a  lot  of 
this  filled-in  land  for  church  building  purposes.  The  lot  was  located 
at  the  northwest  corner  of  First  Street  and  University  Avenue,  and 
here  the  little  congregation  erected  its  first  house  of  worship. 

The  new  building  was  neither  large  nor  imposing :  it  was  forty 
feet  long  by  twenty-five  wide  with  a  little  belfry  in  addition.  The 
church  had  no  bell  for  several  years,  however,  but  sometime  later  Mr. 
Howell  was  able  to  report  that  a  bell  had  been  secured  at  a  cost  of 
two  hundred  dollars.  The  cost  of  the  building  was  about  one  thousand 
dollars,  of  which  the  Church  Building  Society  contributed  two  hundred. 
The  furnishings  of  the  auditorium  were  anything  but  elegant;  the 
seats  were  rough  planks  and  for  a  time  a  large  dry  goods  box  had  to 
do  service  as  pulpit. 

The  Goose  Pond  church  was  taken  into  use  in  1855,  when  the 
village  of  West  Urbana  was  scarcely  a  year  old.  It  was  the  first 
church  building  erected  within  the  limits  of  modern  Champaign.  Even 
in  those  early  days  when  denominationalism  was  not  entirely  unknown, 
the    Congregationalists    showed    a    marked    willingness   to    share    their 

5 


superior  accommodations  with  others.  In  1855  the  Baptists  had  the 
use  of  the  building  in  the  afternoons.  When  the  Reverend  Mr.  Van 
Dyke  conducted  revival  services  in  the  Goose  Pond  auditorium  the 
Methodists  and  the  Baptists  were  in  the  habit  of  joining  in  the  work. 

But  the  Goose  Pond  church  was  something  more  than  a  house  of 
worship ;  it  was  the  home  and  center  of  such  intellectual  activities 
as  the  young  community  could  support.  Lyceums,  literary  clubs,  tern-' 
perance  societies  ,teachers'  institutes,  and  similar  organizations  regu- 
larly held  their  sessions  in  the  Congregational  church.  School  meet 7, 
ings,  mass  meetings,  and  even  political  conventions  were  frequently 
called  to  meet  in  this  auditorium.  The  first  public  school  in  the  village 
also  found  an  abiding-place   in  the   Congregational  church. 

One  of  the  red  letter  days  in  the  history  of  the  old  building  was 
June  17,  1856.  Court  was  in  session  in  Urbana  and  among  the  lawyers 
present  was  Abraham  Lincoln.  On  that  day  came  the  news  that  John 
C.  Fremont  had  been  nominated  for  the  presidency  by  the  Republican 
convention.  A  meeting  was  immediately  arranged  for  and  in  the 
evening  a  considerable  crowd  started  for  the  Depot  and  the  Goose 
Pond  church.  Here  the  enthusiastic  citizens  organized  themselves  into 
a  ratification  meeting  and  heard  an  address  by  Abraham  Lincoln.  And 
so  it  came  to  pass,  and  very  properly  so,  that  Lincoln  made  his  first 
speech  in  support  of  the  first  Republican  candidate  for  the  presidency 
in  a  Congregational  church. 

One  wonders  if  there  were  not  larger  and  more  convenient  audi- 
toriums nearer  the  court  house.  But  it  is  possible  that,  if  such  there 
were,  they  were  not  open  for  a  political  discussion  on  the  evils  of 
slavery, — even  by  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Another  splendid  occasion  was  the  memorial  service  for  John 
Brown  held  in  old  Goose  Pond  on  December  n,  1859.  John  Brown 
was  executed  on  December  2.  The  following  Wednesday  the  local 
newspaper  announced  that  Mr.  Van  Dyke  would  preach  the  next  Sun- 
day morning  on  the  following  highly  significant  and  even  prophetic 
text: 

Shall   I  not  visit  for  these  things?     saith  the  Lord;  shall 

not  my  soul  be  avenged  on  such  a  nation  as  this? — Jeremiah 

5:29. 

At  6 :  30  in  the  evening  the  Reverend  I.  P.  Stryker,  the  Presby- 
terian pastor  in  Urbana,  preached  in  the  same  place  what  was  an- 
nounced to  be  "the  funeral  sermon  of  Old  Ossawatomie  Brown."  The 
press  reported  that  "the  house  was  crowded  to  overflowing  (at  both 
services)  by  an  attentive  and  respectable  audience.  The  discourses 
preached  were  charitable  and  reasonable  as  well  as  pointed  and  able." 

A  year  and  a  half  passed,  and  the  war  with  the  South  was  on.  In 
May.  i860,  the  church  reported  a  membership  of  seventy-two,  of  whom 


twenty-seven  were  men.  The  statistics  for  1861  have  not  been  found; 
but  there  can  scarcely  have  been  more  than  thirty  men  on  the  member- 
ship roll  when  the  war  broke  out. 

When  the  call  came  for  soldiers  the  First  Congregational  Church 
of  West  Urbana  responded  bravely,  even  heroically.  Eleven  of  its 
membership  took  their  places  in  the  ranks.  They  were  Lewis  Allen, 
M.  A.  Barnes,  Henry  Dyson,  Frank  Fillmore,  A.  O.  Howell,  Peter 
Peters,  John  Rankin,  James  Smith,  Jesse  Steel,  William  Stewart,  and 
Gilbert  Taylor.  Of  these  eleven  four  gave  their  lives  for  the  cause  of 
the  Union  :  Barnes,   Peters,  Stewart,  and  Steel. 

Ill 

The  Reverend  Mr.  Blanchard,  through  whose  efforts  the  church 
was  organized,  became  its  first  pastor  and  served  as  such  for  a  period 
of  fourteen  months  (till  January  3,  1855).  After  his  withdrawal  the 
congregation  was  without  regular  preaching  for  another  period  of 
fourteen  months.  Services  were  conducted  most  of  the  time,  however, 
by  William  Munhall,  a  clergyman  of  the  Protestant  Methodist  per- 
suasion, who  had  come  from  Ohio  a  few  months  earlier.  Mr.  Mun- 
hall was  scarcely  eligible  for  a  regular  pastorate,  for  we  read  that 
three  years  later  he  offered  prayer  at  a  Masonic  celebration  in  Urbana. 

Meanwhile  the  church  had  been  looking  about  for  a  pastor  and  on 
March  16,  1856,  a  call  was  sent  to  W.  H.  Halliwell  to  serve  for  one 
year.  Mr.  Halliwell  accepted  the  call,  but  resigned  after  eleven  months. 
The  resignation  was  evidently  demanded,  for  we  read  in  Howell's 
True  History  that  "we  of  this  (then  Chicago)  Association,  with  the 
help  of  Rev.  J.  E.  Roy,  suppressed  and  silenced  him  from  preaching 
for  grossly  immoral  conduct." 

The  church  was  more  fortunate  in  its  next  pastor,  the  Reverend 
Samuel  A.  Van  Dyke,  who  came  to  West  Urbana  in  1857.  Mr.  Van 
Dyke  was  probably  a  young  man,  for  he  was  ordained  in  June  of  the 
same  year.  Though  chosen  to  serve  for  one  year  only,  he  remained 
with  the  church  for  eleven  years,  or  till  May,  1868.  Mr.  Van  Dyke 
seems  loyally  to  have  accepted  the  official  policy  of  the  church;  he 
was  evidently  a  faithful  pastor  and  a  successful  preacher;  when  his 
term  of  service  closed  it  was  clear  to  all  that  his  labors  had  brought 
strength  and  confidence  to  the  struggling  congregation. 

It  fell  to  this  pastor's  lot  to  pilot  his  congregation  through  the 
perilous  passages  of  a  great  war.  During  the  period  of  the  Civil  War 
the  church  suffered  important  losses  by  removal  as  well  as  by  death. 
The  organization  was,  however,  constantly  renewing  its  fellowship  and 
some  of  the  newer  members  were  men  of  energy,  force,  and  sterling 
character,  whose  influence  ran  deep  in  the  affairs  of  the  community 
as  well  as  of  the  church. 

7 


A  notable  accession  was  the  Stewart  family,  eight  in  number,  who 
came  into  the  church  in  1856.  Colonel  Stewart  was  a  free-soil  leader 
of  more  than  local  fame  and  influence.  He  lived  only  four  years 
longer  but  his  sons  continued  to  give  the  church  a  loyal  support. 
Daniel  Rugg  came  to  West  Urbana  in  1858,  and  soon  thereafter  became 
a  member  of  the  church.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jonathan  Bacon  and  John 
Bragg  came  into  the  fellowship  in  i860.  Four  years  later  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
C.  C.  Harris  were  admitted  to  membership ;  with  them  came  their 
daughter,  Mary  Harris  (better  known  as  Mrs.  Bragg),  who  thus  en- 
tered upon  a  career  of  service  which  was  to  continue  for  sixty-four 
years.  In  1865  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  K.  Bardwell  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James 
Craig  came  into  the  fellowship.  The  following  year  Mr.  and  Mrs.  B.  C. 
Beach  presented  letters,  and  in  1868  the  names  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  George 
F.  Beardsley  were  added  to  the  roll. 

If  space  permitted,  one  should  like  to  discuss  the  great  debt  that 
the  church  owes  to  these  men  and  women ;  for  such  names  as  Harris, 
Rugg,  Stewart,  Bragg,  Beach,  and  Beardsley  have  each  its  own  sig- 
nificance in  the  annals  of  local  Congregationalism.  They  have  all  gone 
to  their  reward;  the  last  to  pass  away  was  Airs.  Mary  Bragg,  who  took 
leave  of  earth  only  a  few  months  ago. 

On  the  whole  the  growth  of  -the  church  during  the  sixties  seems 
to  have  been  quite  satisfactory.  The  little  group  of  seven  charter 
members  had  become  a  respectable  body  of  138  in  1867.  In  addition 
the  roll  contained  the  names  of  twenty-one  absent  members.  During 
the  eleven  years  of  Mr.  Van  Dyke's  pastorate  about  200  persons  were 
admitted  to  membership. 

The  church  has  never  been  wealthy  and  the  problem  of  finance  has 
always  been  of  great  interest.  It  is  told  that  in  1856,  while  Mr.  Halli- 
well  was  still  in  good  standing,  an  emergency  meeting  was  called  to 
provide  the  pastor's  salary,  and  that  this  meeting  succeeded  in  raising 
"$350  and  a  yoke  of  oxen."  What  purpose  the  oxen  were  to  serve  is 
not  related. 

A  favorite  expedient  of  those  days  was  the  donation  party,  to  which 
friends  who  were  not  of  the  fellowship  were  sure  to  be  invited.  In 
January,  i860,  and  again  in  March,  1861,  such  parties  were  held  for 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Van  Dyke;  on  the  latter  occasion  the  pastor's  household 
was  enriched  by  the  very  respectable  sum  of  $135. 

The  resources  of  the  congregation  suffered  a  severe  strain  imme- 
diately after  the  war.  when  it  became  evident  that  the  accommodations 
of  the  Goose  Pond  church  had  become  inadequate.  The  outcome  was 
the  building  of  a  new  sanctuary  on  Park  Street,  a  little  distance  west 
of  Neil  Street.  The  Park  Street  church  was  built  at  a  cost  of  about 
$15,000  and  was  the  largest  church  in  the  city.  It  was  dedicated  on 
September  16,  1866. 


Less  than  two  years  later  Mr.  Van  Dyke  surrendered  his  charge ; 
he  preached  his  last  sermon  on  April  20,  1868.  During  the  next  twelve 
months  the  Congregational  pulpit  was  occupied  occasionally  by  Dr. 
J.  M.  Gregory,  regent  of  the  new  University  in  Urbana,  but  more  fre- 
quently by  Professor  W.  M.  Baker,  who  was  professor  of  English  at 
the  University.  Professor  Baker  had  at  one  time  been  a  student  of 
theology  but  was  probably  not  ordained. 

Meantime  the  church  after  considering  the  merits  of  a  dozen  candi- 
dates and  failing  to  get  satisfactory  replies  in  two  instances,  sent  a  call 
(March  21,  1869)  to  E.  N.  Andrews  of  St.  Louis.  In  this  election  the 
church  was  all  but  unanimous ;  only  Mr.  Howell  protested  that  Mr. 
Andrews  was  "not  radical  enough  on  the  subject  of  secret  societies 
[and]  would  rebuke  intemperance  and  covenant  breaking  only  in  a 
general  way." 

The  new  pastor  remained  with  the  church  only  six  months.  It 
seems  that  his  service  had  been  satisfactory  at  least  to  a  majority, 
since  his  resignation  was  accepted  only  after  a  long  debate.  The 
church  raised  his  salary  for  the  six  months  from  $850  agreed  upon 
to  $1000. 

The  pastorate  now  continued  vacant  for  nearly  eight  months. 
During  these  months  Professor  Baker  was  once  more  called  into 
service  as  preacher.  Finally,  in  March,  1870,  Mr.  F.  J.  Volentine  was 
called  for  a  trial  period  of  three  months  at  a  stipend  of  $375.  The 
pastor-elect  was  a  young  man,  just  out  of  the  seminary  and  not  yet 
ordained.  But  on  June  18  he  was  regularly  chosen  pastor  and  was 
formally  installed  in  October.  There  was  some  opposition  at  the  June 
election  but  in  the  end  the  vote  was  unanimous. 

By  this  time  a  group  had  formed  within  the  membership,  which 
was  sharply  critical  of  the  policy  adopted  in  1854;  especially  was  its 
criticism  leveled  against  the  practice  of  refusing  admission  to  members 
of  secret  societies.  There  was  also  a  feeling  that  the  covenant  was 
too  rigid  in  its  requirements.  Moreover,  with  the  passing  of  the  re- 
form wave  of  the  fifties,  the  interest  in  prohibition  was  no  longer  so 
keen  as  earlier.  The  leader  of  this  more  liberal  wing  seems  to  have 
been  Deacon  Beardsley,  who  had  risen  rapidly  to  a  high  position  in 
the  councils  of  the  church.  The  pastor  seems  also  to  have  entertained 
liberal  views. 

On  December  31,  1870,  the  church  resolved  to  appoint  a  committee 
to  revise  the. standing  rules.  Some  changes  appear  to  have  been  sug- 
gested the  following  November ;  but  in  the  end  the  effort  to  rebuild 
the  foundations  of  the  church  failed.  At  a  meeting  called  by  the 
pastor  for  this  purpose,  the  creed,  rules,  and  covenant  were  "rescinded" 
by   a   vote   of    fourteen   to   eight.     The   minority   had   no    difficulty    in 

9 


showing,  however,  that  fourteen  could  not  be  two-thirds  of  the  entire 
membership,  and  the  old  system  remained  in  force. 

On  June  9,  1872.  Mr.  Vblentine  presented  his  resignation  to  be- 
come effective  at  the  close  of  the  month.  It  seems  likely  that  this  step 
was  taken  because  the  pastor  felt  that  he  stood  in  opposition  to  an 
important  group  in  the  church.  It  is  also  possible  that  his  decision  was 
hastened  by  the  cleat!  1  of  his  wife  who  seems  to  have  been  a  woman 
of  rare  excellence. 

The  church  now  resolved  to  ask  the  advice  of  the  neighboring 
churches  and  requested  the  pastors  at  Rantoul,  Paxton,  Loda,  and 
Onarga  with  a  layman  chosen  from  each  of  these  churches  to  form  an 
advisory  committee.  While  this  group  was  deliberating  the  church  was 
listening  to  the  sermons  of  Professor  Don  Carlos  Taft,  who  was  a 
preacher  as  well  as  a  scientist. 

The  outcome  of  the  deliberations  of  church  and  committee  was 
that  a  call  was  sent  to  the  Reverend  William  Gifrord  Pierce  who  was 
then  in  charge  of  the  Congregational  church  at  Elmwood.  The  call 
was  dated  August  5,  1872,  and  Mr.  Pierce  preached  his  first  sermon 
in  the  Park  Street  church  on  September  22. 

Father  Pierce  had  begun  his  career  as  a  lawyer  and  was  also  for 
a  number  of  years  in  the  employ  of  an  important  manufacturing  con- 
cern. In  i860  when  he  was  already  in  his  forty-fourth  year,  he  turned 
to  the  ministry.  When  he  came  to  Champaign  he  was  approaching 
his  fifty-sixth  birthday.  His  pastorate  proved  to  be  very  significant, 
the  most  significant  up  to  that  time  in  the  history  of  the  church. 

Less  than  a  year  after  his  arrival,  the  congregation  suffered  a 
staggering  blow :  the  Park  Street  church,  dedicated  only  six  years  be- 
fore, was  burned  to  the  ground  (September  14,  1873).  Only  three  years 
earlier  a  committee  had  made  the  cheering  report  that  the  debt  on  the 
building  had  been  provided  for ;  now  the  work  of  providing  a  home 
for  the  church  had  to  be  taken  up  anew. 

The  year  1873  is  known  in  history  as  the  year  of  the  great  financial 
panic,  and  times  were  hard  in  Champaign  as  elsewhere.  The  church 
carried  some  insurance  but  the  loss  w^as  covered  only  in  part.  Still, 
the  records  show  that  only  ten  days  after  the  catastrophe  the  officials 
of  the  church  were  already  planning  to  remedy  the  situation.  A  lot  was 
secured  at  the  southeast  corner  of  State  and  Church  Streets,  and  the 
work  of  construction  was  begun.  The  congregation  had  determined 
to  limit  the  cost  of  the  new  building  to  $15,000,  but,  as  usual,  the  esti- 
mates proved  to  be  faulty,  and  the  figures  finally  mounted  to  $23,000. 

Meanwhile  the  congregation  had  found  an  auditorium  in  Eich- 
berg's  hall,  where  services  were  held  for  about  a  year.  Late  in  1874 
the  basement  of  the  new  building  was  taken  into  use ;  the  church  was 
ready  for  dedication  the  following  June.     In  this  building  the  Congre- 

10 


gational  church  of  Champaign  worshipped  for  nearly  forty-four  years. 

The  most  important  fact  relating  to  the  pastorate  of  Father  Pierce 
was  that  he  gave  his  church  a  definite  trend  in  the  direction  of  a  more 
liberal  faith  and  policy.  He  was  not  a  revolutionist;  he  had  not  lost 
all  sympathy  with  the  standards  of  the  past ;  he  even  believed  in  the 
efficacy   of  evangelistic  servic  its  not  of  the  emotional 

type.  Essentially  Father  Pierce  was  an  educator.  By  skillful  and 
persistent  preaching  he  gradually  brought  his  congregation  to  the  con- 
viction that  the  "thorough  principles"  of  the  official  manual  were  not 
proper  tests  for  membership  in  a  Congregational  church.  In  1876  he 
was  able  to  convince  the  church  that  the  older  policy  with  respect  to 
membership  in  secret  societies  should  be  repudiated,  as  noted  above. 
But  it  was  apparently  impossible  to  revise  the  language  of  the  funda- 
mental rules  and  articles  ;  though  thoroughly  discredited,  technically 
they  remained  valid  as  before. 

Father  Pierce  continued  in  charge  of  the  parish  for  fifteen  years. 
During  the  closing  years  of  his  pastorate  his  strength  was  visibly  de- 
clining and  when  his  wife  died  (early  in  1887)  the  stricken  husband 
found  it  difficult  to  rally  from  the  blow.  On  September  19,  1887,  he 
informed  the  congregation  that  he  wished  his  term  of  service  to  close 
by  October  1  ;  on  September  30,  the  last  day  of  his  pastorate,  he  took 
leave  of  earthly  things. 

During  the  years  of  Father  Pierce's  leadership  the  church  was 
steadily,  though  rather  slowly,  growing  in  strength  and  resources. 
Among  the  new  members  one  notes  the  names  of  S.  P.  Atkinson,  the 
Wallace  family,  and  Mrs.  C.  B.  Hatch.  The  influence  of  the  University 
of  Illinois,  which  runs  like  an  ever- widening  stream  through  the  later 
history  of  the  church,  begins  to  appear  in  the  years  of  this  pastorate. 
Air.  and  Airs.  Don  Carlos  Taft  and  Air.  and  Mrs.  N.  C.  Ricker  became 
members  in  1873  and  1876  respectively.  Ira  O.  Baker  professed  the 
faith  in  1875.  A  little  later  his  name  begins  to  appear  prominently  in 
the  records  ;  and  from  that  time  on  for  nearly  fifty  years  Professor 
Baker  was  intimately  connected  with  the  affairs  and  activities  of  his 
chosen  church. 

IV 

To  succeed  Father  Pierce  the  church  selected  the  Reverend  John 
Allender,  who  entered  upon  his  new  duties  on  April  4,  r888.  The  choice 
was  not  fortunate,  as  Mr.  Allender  seems  to  have  lacked  somewhat 
in  the  virtues  of  leadership.  He  was  at  one,  however,  with  the  majority 
in  the  congregation  which  was  still  demanding  a  revision  of  the  rules 
and  the  creed.  In  September  of  his  first  year  he  proposed  the  adop- 
tion of  a  manual  prepared  by  a  committee  of  the  National  Council. 
This  was  agreed  to  on  the  motion  of  Messrs.  Beardsley  and  Beach  by 
a  vote  of  twenty-seven  to  one. 

11 


The  negative  vote  was  evidently  cast  by  Mr.  Howell  who  still 
stood  four-square  on  the  old  platform.  Howell  now  published  his 
views  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  A  True  History  of  the  first  Congregational 
Church  and  what  Its  Thorough  Principles  Arc  and  Mean,  etc.  The 
pamphlet  is  bitterly  controversial ;  nevertheless,  it  is  an  important  docu- 
ment for  the  history  of  the  church  in  Champaign. 

Air.  Howell  complains  that  the  new  manual  omits  "our  prohibitory 
rules,  on  slavery  and  secret  clans  and  temperance,  and  our  sacred 
covenant."  He  urges  that  the  action  was  not  taken  according  to  the 
rules  and  that  it  was  therefore  of  no  force.  Technically  he  seems  to 
have  been  right  in  this ;  but  the  church  apparently  overruled  Lhe  ob- 
jection. 

As  the  months  passed  Mr.  Allender's  position  was  becoming  some- 
what difficult  and  he  was  privately  advised  to  surrender  the  charge. 
He  did  so  in  October,  1891  ;  but  when  the  matter  came  up  for  action 
the  church  refused  to  accept  the  resignation.  It  came  up  a  second  time 
on  December  7,  and  again  a  motion  to  accept  was  lost,  the  vote  being 
twenty-two  to  thirty-one.  Air.  Allender  then  recalled  his  resignation, 
but  the  following  June  he  renewed  his  request  to  be  relieved.  After 
considering  the  matter  for  nearly  two  months,  the  church  finally  ac- 
cepted the  resignation.  Air.  Allender  closed  his  work  on  August  1, 
after  having  served  as  pastor  a  little  more  than  four  years. 

A  call  was  now  sent  to  the  Reverend  Franklin  L.  Graff  of  Breck- 
ville,  Ohio,  who  accepted  and  began  his  pastorate  on  October  15,  1892. 
He  remained  at  the  post  of  leadership  for  more  than  fifteen  years.  In 
the  early  nineties  the  church  did  not  yet  provide  a  parsonage  but  there 
was  a  feeling  that  the  pastor  ought  not  to  pay  house  rent.  With  char- 
acteristic decision  and  energy,  Deacon  Beardsley  secured  the  necessary 
funds  and  proceeded  to  build  a  suitable  house.  The  parsonage,  located 
en  West  University  Avenue,  was  built  in  the  summer  of  1894 ;  the 
church  took  it  over  the  following  year.  The  total  cost  of  house  and 
lot  is  given  as  $4,745.88. 

On  Sunday,  November  1,  1903,  the  First  Congregational  Church 
celebrated  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  its  organization.  At  the  morning 
service  Mr.  Graff  reviewed  the  history  of  the  church  in  a  sermon  en- 
titled "the  record  of  fifty  years."  The  occasion  naturally  led  the  lead- 
ers of  the  church  to  look  backward  in  an  effort  to  trace  and  measure 
the  course  of  progress.  Mr.  Graff  reported  that  in  the  fifty  years  852 
persons  had  entered  the  Congregational  fellowship.  The  growth  had, 
however,,  been  slow  and  sometimes  halting,  but  there  had  been  growth. 
In  1890  there  were  208  names  on  the  roll.  In  1897  the  clerk  reported 
a  membership  of  277.  In  1907  the  count  showed  a  total  of  324.  In 
every  case,  however,  a  certain  number  of  absent  members  were  in- 
cluded in  the  reckoning,  usually  about  thirty,  so  that  the  actual  resi- 

12 


dent  membership  was  never  quite  so  large  as  the  figures  would  indi- 
cate. 

In  1904  the  church  took  one  more  step  in  the  direction  of  individual 
freedom  in  matters  of  belief  by  adopting  a  new  formula  to  be  used 
111  admitting  members  on  profession  of  faith.  Up  to  that  time  all  candi- 
dates for  membership  had  been  required  to  subscribe  to  the  Apostles' 
Creed.  Now,  on  the  recommendation  of  a  committee  composed  of 
Mr.  Beach,  Air.  Graff,  and  Professor  Baker,  this  requirement  was 
dropped. 

In  the  autumn  of  1907  Mr.  Graff  received  and  accepted  a  call  from 
a  church  in  Port  Huron  and  on  November  15  he  closed  his  work  in 
Champaign.  Mr.  Sidney  Strong  of  Chicago  was  secured  as  pulpit 
supply  for  five  weeks  while  a  committee  was  weighing  the  qualifications 
of  the  men  who  had  been  recommended  for  the  vacant  position.  Pro- 
fessor Baker  reported  that  the  committee  had  canvassed  a  list  of 
fifty  names.  The  church  finally  selected  John  Andrew  Holmes  who  was 
temporarily  located  in  Oak  Park.  He  was  chosen  as  acting  pastor  for 
one  year,  and  on  February  11,  1908,  he  assumed  his  new  duties.  The 
following   June  his  appointment  was   changed  to  a  permanent  tenure. 

Mr.  Holmes  was  a  young  man,  thirty-three  years  of  age,  with 
seven  years'  experience  in  the  ministry.  He  brought  to  his  work  an 
irenic  disposition,  a  cheerful  outlook,  a  delicate  sense  of  humor,  and 
a  remarkable  insight  into  the  dramatic  possibilities  of  a  text.  There 
were  no  controversies  during  his  pastorate,  and  its  annals  are,  there- 
fore, not  extensive. 

During  these  years  there  was  a  growing  interest  in  a  project  to 
extend  the  limits  of  local  Congregationalism  into  the  northern  part  of 
Champaign.  In  1903  a  Sunday  school  had  been  established  in  that 
area,  chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society.  It 
was  known  as  the  Sunshine  School  and  was  for  some  time  located  on 
Tremont  Street.  Professor  J.  W.  Lloyd  served  as  its  superintendent 
for  several  years.  Much  effective  work  was  also  done  in  this  section 
by  Miss  Anna  Beardsley.  The  undertaking  seemed  very  much  worth 
while;  in  January,  1907,  the  school  reported  an  enrollment  of  132. 

Out  of  this  Sunday  school  grew  an  organization  that  came  to  be 
known  as  the  Plymouth  Branch.  In  1910  this  new  congregation,  with 
assistance  from  church  sources,  built  itself  a  house  of  worship  and 
secured  the  services  of  a  preacher.  The  venture  was,  however,  not 
entirely  successful.  After  a  dozen  years  the  congregation  at  Plymouth 
decided  to  establish  a  community  church,  wholly  free  from  denomi- 
national connections,  and  its  association  with  the  local  church  came  to 
a  close. 

When  Mr.  Holmes  came  to  Champaign  it  looked  very  much  as  if 
the   church    had    reached    its    growth.      Members    were    admitted    from 

13 


time  to  time,  but  the  losses  came  as  regularly,  so  that  the  net  gain  was 
very  small.  But  Mr.  Holmes  understood  quite  well  that  the  congre- 
n  was  larger  than  the  church  and  sought  to  bring  his  auditors  into 
closer  touch  with  the  organization.  To  this  end  he  established  an 
affiliate  membership  for  such  worshippers  as  wished  to  retain  their 
connection  with  some  church  elsewhere.  He  further  admitted  students 
to  a  temporary  affiliation  called  University  membership. 

On  January  I,  1917,  the  clerk  reported  that  the  church  had  296 
resident  members,  12  affiliated  members,  and  118  University  members. 
Plymouth  Branch  was  credited  with  89.  In  addition  the  roll  carried 
the  names  of  44  absent  members.  The  total  membership  in  these 
various  classes  was  559. 

V 

In  1917  Mr.  Holmes  accepted  a  call  from  the  First  Congregational 
Church  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  and  once  more  the  congregation  at 
Champaign  had  to  look  about  for  a  leader.  On  September  26  it  was 
decided  to  send  a  call  to  the  Reverend  H.  F.  Burns  who  was  stationed 
at  the  time  at  Camp  Sherman.  Mr.  Burns  was  a  man  of  fine  presence 
and  evident  abilities  as  a  preacher;  but  he  was  unable  to  think  his 
way  through  the  peculiar  problem  of  the  local  church  and  he  remained 
in  the  pastorate  for  a  few  weeks  only. 

The  war  was  upon  the  land  and  the  thoughts  and  energies  of  men 
were  centered  in  and  about  the  huge  effort  that  was  to  lead  to  victory. 
At  the  same  time  the  church  had  committed  itself  to  a  new  line  of 
policy.  It  seemed  advisable  under  the  circumstances  to  proceed  slowly 
in  the  choice  of  a  new  leader.  For  a  time  the  duty  of  holding  the 
congregation  to  its  normal  functions  was  largely  in  the  hand  of  Miss 
Helen  E.  Richards,  who  had  for  some  years  held  the  office  of  assistant 
to  the  pastor.  But,  discouraging  as  the  situation  was,  it  was  not  with- 
out a  real  compensation ;  for  it  gave  the  church  the  rare  privilege  of 
listening  to  a  wonderful  preacher  in  the  Reverend  J.  B.  Silcox  of 
Montreal  and  Winnipeg,  who  served  as  pulpit  supply  during  the  winter 
of  1917-1918. 

In  the  following  summer  the  Reverend  Robert  J.  Locke  of  Wis- 
consin Rapids  accepted  a  call  from  the  church  and  began  his  pastorate 
in  October,  1918..  In  Mr.  Locke  the  church  found  a  vigorous  person- 
ality, a  man  of  energy,  enthusiasm,  and  strong  purposes.  He  seemed 
to  be  by  nature  a  builder  and  the  church  had  much  building  that  needed 
to  be  done. 

Mr.  Locke's  first  task  was  to  build  a  new  church.  Ten  years  earlier 
certain  members  of  the  church  who  lived  near  the  University  campus 
had  begun  to  .discuss  the  advisability  of  establishing  a  Congregational 
church  in  that  neighborhood.  It  was  argued  that  the  Congregational 
constituency    in    the    student    body    was    rapidly   growing    and    that    it 

14 


seemed  impossible  to  bring  these  students  into  a  satisfactory  relation 
with  a  church  a  mile  and  a  half  away. 

The  movement  for  a  new  church  was  led  by  Professor  W.  A. 
Noyes,  but  Dean  Eugene  Davenport  was  also  much  interested.  At  the 
time  there  were  about  twenty-five  families  with  University  connection 
holding  membership  in  the  church.  Almost  as  many  more  had  Congre- 
gational ancestry  but  were  not  identified  with  the  local  organization. 
It  was  believed,  therefore,  that  the  new  congregation  would  count 
about  a  hundred  members  to  begin  with.  Some  support  was  also  ex- 
pected from  the  student  body. 

It  was  only  natural  that  the  church  should  accept  a  proposition 
of  this  sort  with  great  reluctance,  as  it  meant  a  serious  weakening  of 
the  parent  stem.  But  the  situation  was  one  that  had  to  be  dealt  with 
and  the  membership  finally  agreed  to  promote  such  a  plan,  if  the  state 
conference  would  help  to  finance  it.  On  the  promise  of  such  support,  men 
were  secured  to  canvas  the  Congregational  churches  for  funds.  The 
venture  did  not  appeal  strongly  to  the  people  of  the  state  in  its  earlier 
stage.  Not  till  191 7  were  the  promoters  able  to  announce  that  the 
campaign  had  been  brought  to  a  successful  close. 

In  the  meantime  the  officials  of  the  conference  had  been  examining 
the  problem  anew;  and  early  in  1917  a  committee  of  that  body  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  best  interests  of  Congregationalism  in  the 
University  cities  could  "be  best  conserved,  if  the  First  Church  would 
undertake  the  work  from  a  location  near  the  University  campus." 

This  would  mean  that  the  old  building  at  Church  and  State  would 
have  to  be  abandoned  and  a  new  building  erected  in  the  University 
area.  The  church  received  the  proposition  with  little  enthusiasm; 
to  the  older  members  the  old  site  was  holy  ground ;  but  arguments 
prevailed  and  the  proposal  of  the  conference  was  accepted  by  a  vote 
of  113  to  40. 

The  old  building  was  now  sold  and  the  congregation  was  once 
more  without  a  home.  Temporary  quarters  were  found,  first  in  the 
Rialto  Theater  and  later  in  Morrow  Hall  at  the  University.  Immediate 
steps  were  taken,  however,  to  secure  a  new  house  of  worship.  Land 
was  purchased  at  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  Daniel  Streets,  Champaign, 
and  the  work  of  building  was  begun.  The  cornerstone  was  laid  in 
1919  and  the  church  was  dedicated  February  20-27,  1921. 

The  cost  of  the  new  structure  was  about  $123,000.  A  venture  so 
large  as  this  could,  of  course,  not  be  financed  by  the  local  congrega- 
tion. Pledges  to  the  amount  of  $50,000  had  been  secured  elsewhere  in 
the  state;  in  addition  the  state  conference  contributed  $10,000;  from  the 
Church  Building  Society  $25,000  was  secured,  $10,000  as  a  gift  and 
$15,000  as  a  loan. 

The  new  situation  demanded  that  the  pastor  should  reside  in  the 

15 


University  district,  and  it  therefore  became  necessary  to  purchase  a 
new  parsonage.  In  1923  several  members,  headed  by  Dean  K.  C.  Bab- 
cock,  joined  in  buying  a  house  on  California  Street  near  the  campus, 
where  the  pastor  has  since  resided.  Eventually  this  became  the  prop- 
erty of  the  church. 

Mr.  Locke  now  turned  his  attention  to  the  problem  of  how  to 
bring  the  Congregational  students  within  the  pale  of  the  church.  In 
19 ro  he  organized  a  Students'  Association  which  has  proved  able  to 
render  effective  service  and  which  continues  to  function.  In  1922  it 
reported  a  membership  of  464.  But  Air.  Locke  soon  came  to  believe 
that  the  problem  of  church  and  student  could  be  dealt  with  satisfac- 
torily only  through  a  religious  foundation.  After  much  preliminary 
discussion  a  meeting  was  held  at  Jhe  church  on  January  5,  1922,  to 
consider  the  advisability  of  organizing  such  a  corporation.  At  this 
meeting  fourteen  persons  were  present  from  the  church  and  four  from 
the  conference.  A  motion- to  establish  a  foundation  was  unanimously 
adopted.  The  necessary  legal  and  formal  steps  were  taken  during  the 
following  twelve-month,  and  on  May  11,  1923,  the  board  of  trustees 
of  the  Pilgrim  Foundation  met  to  organize  its  work.  Mr.  Locke  was 
chosen  director. 

In  his  report  to  the  annual  meeting  of  the  church  in  January,  1926, 
the  pastor  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  between  the  church,  the  con- 
ference, and  the  foundation  there  was  a  twilight  zone  which  ought  to  be 
brought  into  the  light  or  cleared  away.  This  twilight  zone  is  still  a 
disturbing  fact  and  the  most  serious  task  before  the  church  at  this 
writing  is  to  reach  an  amicable  agreement  with  the  other  bodies  as  to 
areas  and  limits  of  functions  and  authority. 

In  addition  to  the  building  of  a  new  church  and  the  establishing 
of  a  religious  foundation  one  notes  much  activity  during  Mr.  Locke's 
administration,  especially  in  organizing  the  forces  and  normal  ac- 
tivities of  the  church.  The  decision  to  move  from  the  old  site  caused 
a  certain  loss  in  the  membership;  but  since  January  1,  1924,  there  has 
been  a  fairly  satisfactory  increase  in  the  numbers  enrolled.  On  Janu- 
ary 21,  1928,  after  the  names  of  a  considerable  number  of  inactive  or  ab- 
sent members  had  been  dropped  from  the  roll,  the  clerk  reported  208 
resident  members  and  108  absent  members ;  he  also  reported  that  about 
250  students  were  holding  affiliate  membership.  In  all  about  650  persons 
were  in  organic  relations  with  the  church. 

The  figures  of  the  budget  as  they  come  from  year  to  year  also 
tell,  the  story  of  expansion.  In  1895  the  expenditures  of  the  church 
were  about  $2,600.  all  of  which  was  raised  within  the  congregation. 
Since  then  the  totals  have  risen  to  more  than  double.  At  present  the 
congregation  is  expected  to  contribute  to  its  own  local  expenses  about 
$S,50O,    of    which    $1,000    will    come    in    the    form   of    collections.    The 

16 


women's  organization  and  the  Students'  Association  also  have  their 
budgetary  arrangements  and  contribute  to  the  expenses  of  the  church. 
In  1924  the  Students'  Association  was  able  to  raise  more  than  $900, 
all  from  its  own  membership. 

It  was  believed  that  by  rebuilding  the  church  on  a  new  site  the 
Sunday  morning  attendance  would  be  increased  and  this  belief  has  been 
justified.  Twenty  years  ago  the  church  attendance  rarely  exceeded 
150,  though  occasionally  it  would  go  up  to  200.  Since  the  new  church 
was  built  the  count  has  frequently  shown  400  present  and  at  times  the 
figures  have  been  nearer  500. 

In  January,  1927,  Mr.  Locke  resigned  to  accept  the  office  of  super- 
intendent of  the  Congregational  churches  of  the  state.  The  church 
proceeded  at  once  to  look  for  a  suitable  man  to  fill  the  vacant  pastor- 
ate, but  the  earlier  efforts  led  to  nothing.  A  large  majority  favored 
the  election  of  Mr.  Melville  T.  Kennedy,  who,  however,  refused  to  be 
regarded  as  a  candidate.  It  was  decided  next  to  ask  John  Andrew 
Holmes  to  return  to  his  old  parish  as  acting  pastor  till  the  end  of  the 
year.  Air.  Holmes  was  later  chosen  acting  director  of  the  student  work 
by  the  trustees  of  the  Pilgrim  Foundation. 

Once  more  the  church  turned  its  attention  to  the  problem  of  the 
vacant  pastorate  and  once  more  the  choice  fell  upon  Mr.  Kennedy. 
As  the  church  seemed  to  speak  with  one  voice  in  the  matter,  Mr.  Ken- 
nedy accepted  the  call  and  on  January  1,  1928,  he  entered  upon  his 
new  duties  as  the  eleventh  regular  pastor  of  the  First  Congregational 
Church  of  Champaign. 


Marriott  &  Miles,  Printers 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 
SEVENTY-HVE  YEARS  OFMNGREGATIONALISM 


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